The Christian’s Great Enemy, A Practical Exposition of 1 Peter 5:8-11, by John Brown, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, 100 pages, £5.50, obtainable from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom.
This book provides an exposition of 1 Peter 5:8-11: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about . . .”. It
2A Greek historian who died in 120 AD.
is an extract from the author’s much larger work on 1 Peter which was previously published by the Banner of Truth but is now out of print. The author is the John Brown who was a United Presbyterian minister in Edinburgh in the nineteenth century and was a grandson of John Brown of Haddington. The author was not as sound doctrinally as his grandfather; he took an Amyraldian view of the extent of the atonement, but in this little volume he is fully scriptural in his doctrine; his willingness to change the text of the Bible, at one point, is less satisfactory.
Brown begins by pointing out that “there is, perhaps, no article of revealed truth which has been more generally ridiculed by infidels . . . than the doctrine of the existence and agency of evil spirits”. Today, perhaps, those who reject the Bible feel no need to ridicule this truth; they just ignore it – except for those who, dangerously, dabble in Satanism. But Satan and other devils do exist and are dangerous. Hence the value of the warnings in this readable book, which includes chapters on the Christian’s duty in relation to Satan and the Christian’s encouragement to perform his duty.
By way of encouragement, Brown wrote that, in spite of temptation, God “can do all that He has promised. He is infinite in power; and infinite too in wisdom. No enemy so powerful, but He can restrain and subdue him; no enemy so crafty, but He can circumvent and disappoint him. No Christian so weak, but He can make him strong; no Christian so foolish, but He can make him wise.”
The author also points out that “nothing is so well fitted to mortify that old adversary [Satan] as to find that the very means he employs to produce our apostasy and ruin are converted into the occasion of our establishment in the faith, our advancement in holiness, and our fitness for heaven”. Again he reminds us that “the Christian is to fight against Satan, not only in his own heart, but in the Church and the world. . . . He is carefully to avoid everything which may in any way prove, however unintentionally, co-operation with the lawless one in his nefarious designs; and by all proper methods he must endeavour to counteract him.”
These are examples of the practical, scriptural teaching contained in this book. Everyone who feels vulnerable because of the power of sin, within and without, should read this book, prayerfully seeking God’s blessing on it. Indeed the book would prove a great blessing if it would only send us more earnestly to the throne of grace to pray the Lord to keep us from temptation.
What reason is there to sit down in silence and humbly acquiesce in the account given us of our character and state by a God of infinite holiness! There is no error to blind His judgement, no interest to bias His inclination, and there is no equal who may contend or enter into judgement with Him.
John Witherspoon
Protestant View
Two Popes Canonised
The canonisation of two popes (John XXIII and John Paul II) by the present Pope drew half a million people to gather in and around St Peter’s Square in Rome. The event was attended also by the heads of state or their representatives from 122 countries, the Queen being represented by the Duke of Gloucester. “All the world wondered at the beast” (Rev 13.3).
Objections have been raised against canonising John Paul II because of his failure to deal with abuse by priests. The opinion of the New York Times is that he was “a great man in many ways. But given that he presided over the Catholic Church during nearly three decades of a gruesome paedophilia scandal and grotesque cover-up, he ain’t no saint.”
Several Roman Catholic analysts believe that the double canonisation had a political element in it. John XXIII is the hero of the more liberal Roman Catholics because he called Vatican II with a view to modernising the Church, whereas John Paul II is admired by the conservative section for maintaining the status quo. By canonising them together, say some, the Pope aimed to draw the liberals and conservatives closer together.
As part of the canonisation rites, the Pope solemnly kissed containers of relics of the two Popes – a vial of blood belonging to John Paul II and a fleck of skin removed from the body of John XXIII. We need not be surprised that Rome still clings to its superstitious, pagan, lucrative practice of doing homage to relics of the dead.
The climax of the ceremony was the Pope’s proclamation, “We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church”. Veneration (that is, worship) of the dead is a most heinous sin not only because it is communion with the dead, but also because it is completely contrary to the divine declaration, “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another” (Is 42:8). NMR